Not applicable to this application.
Not applicable to this application.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bridge plugs and more specifically it relates to a composite bridge plug system for containing a well bore with reduced drill up time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bridge plugs have been in use for years. Conventional bridge plugs are comprised of a metallic material which is lowered into a well bore via a wire line or steel tube. To set the conventional bridge plugs within the well bore, the user caused slips within the bridge plug to extend outwardly thereby contacting the well bore walls and an elastomeric packing element to seal to the well bore by using an electronic means or pump force.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for containing a well bore with reduced drill up time. Conventional bridge plugs are difficult to remove from a well bore by conventional drilling because they are rotated within the well bore.
In these respects, the composite bridge plug system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of containing a well bore with reduced drill up time.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of bridge plugs now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new composite bridge plug system construction wherein the same can be utilized for containing a well bore with reduced drill up time.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new composite bridge plug system that has many of the advantages of the bridge plugs mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new composite bridge plug system which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art bridge plugs, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises an elongate mandrel, a head member attached to a lower portion of the mandrel, an upper collar positioned about an upper portion of the mandrel, and a plurality of gripping members positioned about the mandrel. The gripping members are expandable outwardly when the mandrel is pulled upwardly with an engaging tube preventing the upward movement of the upper collar thereby compressing the gripping members. The upper portion of the mandrel includes a shear portion that is breakable by pulling upwardly upon the mandrel. An engaging portion surrounds the shear portion adjacent to the upper collar that is engageable with a lower slot within a head member of a higher bridge plug thereby preventing rotation of the higher bridge plug during drilling thereof.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and that will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a composite bridge plug system that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
A second object is to provide a composite bridge plug system for containing a well bore with reduced drill up time.
Another object is to provide a composite bridge plug system that utilizes a combination of metal and non-metal components for containing a conduit.
An additional object is to provide a composite bridge plug system that may be utilized within oil or gas well bores.
A further object is to provide a composite bridge plug system that reduces milling or drill out operations of the bridge plug.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.